


Do What You Will

by Leonawriter



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, POV Second Person, Spoilers - No Mercy Route, timeline reset, you get dunked on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-08
Updated: 2015-11-18
Packaged: 2018-04-30 16:43:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5171705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leonawriter/pseuds/Leonawriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It takes you that long to figure out something is horribly, horribly wrong. And by the time you realise, it's almost too late. You call out for help, and although you think nobody came, it was already there. You just had to know what to do, and take matters into your own hands, for once. Because at the end of the day, you are Frisk, and nobody else. You might have failed this time, but you can still make everything better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on a specific idea I had, a variation on a theme that I'm sure has been done before. 
> 
> The point of view - as in, who 'you' is - differs depending on who's talking, and yes, it can be somewhat confusing at first. It *should* make more sense after reading through again, though!

It had started, as many things did with you, with  _frustration_ and with  _anger_ and with giving in too easily. 

Perhaps, also, you were tired of being  _lied to_ , of being told you could trust and then being shut in. That was equally possible.

You thought you were escaping, doing whatever it took to get out, and everyone in your path was just  _standing in your way_. Couldn't they see that if you didn't do this, you'd just be stuck down here? It might be nice, but it was still a prison. 

_Sometimes, you wondered if this was really you, though. You remembered screaming to yourself in your room and hitting things, but never people. That wasn't how it went._

_Was it?_

No matter. The sooner you got through, the sooner you'd be out, the sooner you'd be back home-

_The sound of CDs playing from down the hall mixed with the sound of the radio and the smell of burnt food and microwaveable meals mixed with butterscotch-cinnamon pie and cold spaghetti._

It started with you keeping an eye out, just to make sure, just to  _know_ that you weren't going to get a surprise attack as you tried to take a few steps down the corridor. It was easy to slip, though. 

The chill of anticipation became  _anticipation_ became  _waiting_ became  _searching_ became  _I know you're in there somewhere, come out come out wherever you are-_

_That wasn't right, was it? You remember being bullied. You remember them ganging up. You remember that sick feeling, wondering if today they would be waiting for you on your journey home, and never knowing._

_You'd run, though._

_Why weren't you running now?_

It was easy to dispose of monsters, wasn't it? After all, it was just a  _game_ , it wasn't like anyone would  _know_ when you got back up to the surface. 

They didn't even bleed. And the underground could be - oh, so  _dusty_. No one had been in those ruins for... so, so many years, you just stumbled in, and stumbled out.

_Except you remembered how it was when your mother died, how suddenly she had gone from being there to never there at all, as though she never was, and you remembered the words - dust to dust and ashes to ashes - and you remembered the ache, the hurt, the pain._

_Could it really be that different?_

The sunlight through the windows was harsh. A thrill of anticipation shivered down your spine, and you were determined to face whatever was coming next head on.

"...heya."

Oh.  _Him_.

"you've been busy, huh?"

You'd almost forgotten about him. It's been a while.

"...so, i've got a question for ya."

He closed his eyes. It'd be so easy to strike him down right there, when he wasn't expecting it, couldn't see it coming. But curiosity won out. Sometimes even the most forgettable person had something interesting to say.

_Papyrus wasn't forgettable, though, you think. Undyne remembered him. And this is his brother._

"do you think even the worst person can change...? that everybody can be a good person, if they just try...?"

Oh, was that it?

That wasn't very interesting at all.

_I don't know, you find yourself thinking. I'm not sure._

You took a step forward, then another, wondering if you could creep up fast enough and quietly enough-

He started laughing. Opened his eyes for a moment. Well, there went the idea of creeping up without being noticed, it seemed.

"all right. well, here's a better question."

The lights in his eyes went out. All of a sudden, you felt that shiver again. 

Was it anticipation, still? Was it excitement? It couldn't be fear, because you were the most terrifying thing in the entire underground. 

_I don't like this._

"do you wanna have a bad time?"

This was gonna be  _good_.

"'cause if you take another step forward... you are REALLY not going to like what happens next."

_No - no, I don't like this. I don't like this. Let's just go back. Like Flowey said._

You step forward, despite everything. It's a challenge. It's slow. The sound of your shoes hitting the floor echoes around the hall. You smile. Grip the knife in preparation.

"welp. sorry, old lady. this is why i never make promises."

Almost as though he was reluctant. Hm. Maybe this would be easier than they'd thought. Mettaton NEO had been like that. He hadn't lasted long, either.

There was the familiar pull of your soul being drawn into a fight. you gripped harder, expecting to make the first move - instead, you heard him continue to speak.

"it's a beautiful day outside. flowers are blooming, birds are singing... on days like these, kids like you... S h o u l d  b e  b u r n i n g  i n  h e l l."

 _Help._ _You called out for help. You didn't want this, you didn't- this wasn't what you asked for._   _This wasn't how it was meant to go._

_But nobody came._

It took you a few tries to stay alive for more than just his opening attack. Which, to be honest, just ends up  _pissing you off_. No one else was this hard to beat. Sure, you wanted a challenge, but you don't think this is fair.

No, scratch that. It  _definitely_ isn't fair.

No one else could dodge. No one else could mess around like that.

Well, that was just  _fine_ , then! If one of the two of you could disregard the rules... then you could too.

"i know you didn't answer me before, but... somewhere in there, i can feel it."

Just a distraction. Wouldn't work.

_?_

"there's a glimmer of a good person inside of you. the memory of a person who once wanted to do the right thing."

Nice try.

_!_

"someone who, in another time, might have even been... a friend?"

Not gonna work.

_...you were listening._

"c'mon, buddy. do you remember me?"

Forgettable.

"please, if you're listening... let's just forget all of this, ok? just lay down your weapon, and, well... my job will be a lot easier."

Sans - he was trying to SPARE you? Oh,  _please?_ Hadn't he learned by now? Then again, this could be useful. Others had tried this, and died for it.  _Done and dusted_ , as the saying went. 

You wondered briefly if Sans would appreciate the pun.

You hesitate, and something, an impulse, chooses to SPARE rather than keep on attacking.

_That's right. You don't want to fight any more. Let's just go home. You want to go home. Maybe then you can forget. Everything._

_Even if you don't think you'll ever get rid of the feeling of your sins crawling on your back._

_You know that if you let yourself get too close with that knife, you will slice and cut, so you don't let that happen. You are DETERMINED. You feel your body shaking, and the knife drops to the floor. Clang. Echoing, the sounds going around the hall and back to you._

_Still shaking. Eyes sore, your arms hugging your chest. You just wanted to go HOME-_

"...you're sparing me? finally. buddy. pal. i know how hard it must be to make that choice."

But you  _weren't_. Damn it, you-

_You don't really expect him to forgive you._

"to go back on everything you've worked up to."

You bet you had. You'd put so much  _work_ into this, damn it!

_But it means something, to know he understands._

"i want you to know... i won't let it go to waste."

You don't like the sound of that. You  _really_ don't like the sound of that. It wasn't  _fair_ \- you'd got so far, this time! You  _weren't about to lose again-_

_You think you understand, by now, though._

"c'mere, pal."

_This time, you were the one making limbs move in a direction they didn't want to go in. Both because something wanted to stop you, and because you were, to be blunt, afraid._

_If you were faced with yourself, you didn't think you'd let you live, either._

_You closed the gap between you, close enough, close enough. You wonder if Sans can see the fact that you're crying by now, but his expression doesn't change enough for you to know for sure._

_He feels cold. Not just because he's all bones, but because there's no warmth. No warmth for you._

"geeettttttt dunked on!!!"

It's a  _strangled_ scream that  _you don't know_ is from you or from  _you_ , and you  _don't really care much anyway_ but at the same time, you're frustrated, as well, and it's  _terrifying_. All you can feel are bones, bones everywhere, and pain, and  _heartbreak_.

In the darkness, you can hear a few last words filtering through from the last moments of the timeline.

"if we're really friends... you won't come back."

...

Normally, your DETERMINATION not to die meant that if you died, you just went back to the last save. But this time? This time was different.

You were determined not to die. But you were also determined to  _not go back_. And, for a while, you just  _were_. Existing outside of space or time in the darkness.

You weren't alone, though. You should have realised by now, you had  _never_ been alone.

 Chara glared at you, just a few paces away in the darkness. They were smiling, even now, but it seemed strained. You were sure that if you hadn't dropped it, they would be holding the knife.

"It's not over yet," they said. "All we need to do is go back to our last SAVE point. All you've done is stall for time. That wasn't very smart now, was it?"

You're frowning. You wonder how to fix this. It's not like you can just go back to a point when you weren't dead. It wouldn't do any good.

Now, if there was a way to go back to the  _beginning_ again, back to where you knew things had started going wrong...

You wouldn't choose not to fall down into the underground again. You don't know what you'd do if you _could_ choose that, anyway. You shy away from it. But everything else...?

...Even Flowey, who'd seemed so scared, when talking to Chara, who he seemed to think of as a  _friend_ right up until the last moment?

You nod decisively.

Chara's smile faltered.

"What are you  _doing_? You  _idiot_. You really think you've got any control left anymore? It's me. It's  _always_ been _me_."

You were, however, determined.

You shook your head.

"My name," you said, "is  _Frisk_."

And with your heart in the right place, you found the right button.

_RESET._


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing you are aware of when you awaken is  _pain_.

It surprises you, and then you realise that you shouldn't be surprised at all. Didn't you choose to go back to the beginning, after everything you'd done? You should have known that this would be where you ended up. Although perhaps you had just become used to a sudden absence of pain upon death, and then  _determination_ , and then finding yourself at your last save point, at which point you'd just keep going.

In a sense, you suppose you'd been rather like something you'd learned about in history. A battering ram. Keep on hitting at things long enough, and you'll break down whatever you come across.

Not so this time, though. Your bones ache, and your muscles feel bruised from the fall that to memory had been hours (days? who knew) ago, but your body disagreed, and said with no uncertainty that it had only just happened. 

You wanted to stay there a while longer. Maybe if you rested a bit, you'd be more ready for what happened next. You got as far as your head thudding softly against the bed of golden flowers, your eyes closing, before resigning yourself to the fact that resting wasn't the answer here. You hadn't rested last time, had you?

No. You had felt the urge to get up as soon as you could, to see if there was a way of climbing back out, and only when you realised that there wasn't, had you, not without trepidation, followed the corridor away from the cavern, and the last bit of sky you would see for quite some time.

If you waited too long, you realise now, Toriel might not come by. You'd be able to get through those puzzles easily enough, yes - but that would give you away.

You sigh, irritated at having to play along-

_(Is this what it's like for Sans?)_

-and heave yourself to your feet, feeling those (old, they'd go away soon, you know that much and that is, oddly enough, comforting) aches as you do.

You walk down the corridor. You don't understand why your heart is pounding in your chest like this. There's nothing that's going to catch you by surprise this time, after all.

And if anything does come as a threat, then you know all too well that you're scarier than any of the monsters here. 

Well, almost any.

_(You think about him again. You wish you hadn't. The memory of being slammed into the walls and the floor and the ceiling compounded with the physical memory of falling and you wince-_

_you want to hate because it hurt so much and you can almost still feel it, because that's what you do, you lash out-_

_and you're scared, because that's why things went wrong last time-_

_and you don't know how much of a good job you're going to make of this, trying to do things differently, if you've not got any experience.)_

 Your feet find their way easily enough. You're more used to the dark, now, more than you were before anyway. And the echoes of your footsteps from another timeline are in your ears.

 Everything was in order. It all lined up, more or less. For perhaps the first time since resetting - maybe even before that - you feel  _in control_. You're in charge.

Maybe that's why seeing Flowey again gives you such a shock.

It isn't because it's a deviation from how things should go. This is  _exactly_ how things went. Although you aren't sure you could let yourself get hit by deadly magic on  _purpose_ , no matter how much you wanted to pretend this was all new.

It's the way Flowey is smiling.

The flower almost seems  _afraid_. Which is odd, for a monster without a soul. Although maybe you are mistaken. Maybe, it - he, really - is  _disappointed_. 

You aren't quite sure. Flower expressions can be rather hard to read, when they're not-

_(Petals wilted. Unsure, uncertain. Not so confident any more._

_It was kill or be killed, after all..._

_...and real knives were just as good for cutting weeds in their path as they were for cutting down kings in their way._

_Oh. It looks like it finally understands. And right before your hand strays to the knife, to change this encounter into a fight.)_

"Really, Chara?"

You want to scream out, say  _that isn't my name!_ \- but your body doesn't respond, and for an infinite moment you wonder if you hadn't brought Chara back with you, if you were going to start moving without  _wanting_ to move again, like you had before.

You don't. If nothing else, you're unarmed apart from your stick.

And instead of killing intent, you just feel sick.

"Well, do what you will."

You wonder if your body will respond even if Flowey chooses to attack again, even knowing you won't be taken for a fool this time. The look on the flower's face definitely seems to support the idea, for a second.

But then-

"I'll be waiting for you!"

You shiver. 

 _He knows_.

You remember that in this reset timeline, everyone you had killed, some in self-defence and others in cold blood and others still with hatred in your (Chara's, but yours even still) veins... they're all still alive.

_He knows._

You wonder how safe you are. Time does not, after all, erase everything. It didn't erase your memories. 

_ He could tell anyone. He could tell everyone. Even just a whisper into the echo flowers. _

Even as Toriel walks calmly up to you and asks if you are all right, you're still shivering. Your arms wrapped around your chest, because you don't expect the slight comfort to come from anyone else.

_ (You feel your sins crawling on your back.)  _

You take Toriel's hand, and you let her lead you out of the place. The warmth of her fur soothes the cold of your hand, and you wonder if you even noticed it the first time around.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm taking some liberties with interpreting how certain things go, and those liberties will only keep getting more off-script as the chapters go by, depending on what I want from the scene. 
> 
> Mainly this is artistic license, but it's also due in part to how I'm not playing the game as I'm writing it (I couldn't bring myself to do an actual No Mercy run myself), and so I've really got little to go by other than youtube videos and wiki info.


End file.
